YUNNAN, China--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Yunnan
Investment Holdings Group and BYD
announced this week intentions to open new energy vehicle manufacturing
plants in Yunnan Province, expanding BYD’s EV and new-energy businesses
into southwest China and neighboring Asian countries. Yunnan Province,
located in far southwest China, has a population of about 50 million,
concentrated in about eight large cities, and borders with countries;
Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam. Currently, the province’s main manufacturing
industries are iron and steel production, copper-smelting and commercial
vehicle production. However, the province’s vast mineral and metal
reserves (some of the largest in China) promise to support almost
unlimited growth in manufacturing. Yunnan also boasts an annual water
supply of 222 billion cubic meters, more than ten
thousand cubic meters of water per person. With projected
hydropower reserves greater than 103 GW, over 70% of the electric power
supply in Yunnan currently comes from water. This combination of natural
resources and readily available electricity make Yunnan Province an
ideal location for electrified transportation and new energy vehicle
manufacturing.

The BYD-Yunnan cooperation will follow three stages over the coming
year. First, the market will be developed with BYD supplying Yunnan
Investment Holdings BYD
e6 electric taxis to be dispatched in the main cities of Yunnan
(including Kunming, Qujin, Zhaotong, Honghe, Dali and Wenshen). Business
development will then expand into electrified urban public
transportation with BYD’s
GreenCity Electric buses (for public transport, tourism
shuttles, government and municipal facilities transport). Finally, with
a market plan developed and base business established, BYD will work
with Yunnan Investment Holding Group to set up a new-energy vehicle
manufacturing base to serve all of southwest China and neighboring
countries.

BYD Chairman Chuanfu Wang stated, “BYD is the only enterprise who has
pure electric buses, pure electric and environmentally-friendly Iron
Phosphate (Fe) battery technology in China! BYD has solid experience in
the pure electric bus and electric taxi production with
the largest all-electric fleets in the world – the Yunnan project
will follow the 'Shenzhen model' and best practices forwarding the
electrification of public and consumer transportation driving economic
and environmental recovery for Yunnan and the surrounding regions.”
Yunnan Authorities stated, “Yunnan is located in high-plateau area in
China which makes gasoline car consumption 10% less efficient compared
to lower altitudes -- that’s why it is so urgent to develop electric
vehicles.” The Yunnan capital city of Kunming is also one of the 25
National new energy vehicle development pilot cities in China and has
already announced a series of incentive policies to support the
development of a new energy vehicle market. For more information, visit
BYD at www.facebook.com/bydcompany
and www.byd.com.